Wheeling breaks ground on village hall

Wheeling officials and residents all gathered at the current village hall Monday to break ground on what will be the new center of town government.

The day marked the official start of the construction of the new village hall, which will be built by W. B. Olson Inc.

"Here is our new beginning for something that we all have worked very hard," said Judy Abruscato, the interim Wheeling village president.

Here's a breakdown of some of the numbers connected to the new building:

$23.5 million The cost of the village hall project.

8 The number of acres the park district received from the village in a land swap deal for the former site of the village's public works building.

6 The number of acres the village will get from the park district in that same land swap. The swap was integral in acquiring enough land to build the village hall and to, consequently, add open space for the park district.

301 The new address for the village hall on Dundee Road. The old address is 255 W. Dundee Road. That building will be occupied by the police department.

125 Approximately the number of people who attended the groundbreaking Monday. The crowd included local school board members, state officials, representatives from the chamber of commerce, village staff, police officers, fire fighters and, of course, local residents.

2009 The year the new village hall is scheduled to be completed.

53,872 The square footage of the new village hall.

7 The number of golden shovels used to break ground, wielded by Abruscato, Trustees Ken Brady, Robert Heer, Dean Argiris, Patrick Horcher, Michael Horcher and village Clerk Elaine Simpson. Various village staff and trustees also donned the obligatory hard hats.